Systems and methods for client-related risk zones

ABSTRACT

Systems, apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture that provide for outputting and utilization of risk zone information are provided. In some embodiments, risk zone information may be utilized to select, price, and/or manage an insurance policy.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit and priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) toU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/427,201, filed on Dec. 26, 2010 andtitled “RISK ZONES”, which application is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/334,897 filed on Dec. 22, 2011 in the name of Collins et al. andtitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CUSTOMER-RELATED RISK ZONES”.

BACKGROUND

People, animals (pets, livestock, and wildlife), machines (vehicles andequipment), buildings, and businesses, are constantly subject to varyingdegrees and types of risk. While insurance companies often attempt toeducate their clients regarding ways to minimize risk, generalrisk-avoidance strategies or best-practices are often insufficient toprevent reoccurrence of various accident and/or loss events. Therefore,it would be desirable to provide information and/or other mechanisms toclients that would help reduce occurrences of accidents and/or losses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An understanding of embodiments described herein and many of theattendant advantages thereof may be readily obtained by reference to thefollowing detailed description when considered with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a process according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a method according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a process according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is an example interface according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 is an example interface according to some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is an example interface according to some embodiments;

FIG. 9 is an example interface according to some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to someembodiments; and

FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, and FIG. 11D are perspective diagrams ofexemplary data storage devices according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein are descriptive of systems, apparatus,methods, interfaces, and articles of manufacture for determination andutilization of client-related risk zones. In some embodiments, forexample, various risks associated with areas, objects, individuals, timeperiods, weather conditions, etc., may be monitored, aggregated,analyzed, tabulated, graphed, mapped, and/or otherwise processed and/orpresented.

It may be beneficial, for example, for an insurance policy on an object(e.g., person, business, and/or thing/item) to be structured to takeinto account the zones of risk within which the object exists, operates,passes through, and/or is otherwise associated. While standard insurancepolicies are written to take into account certain specific types of risk(e.g., how many miles are driven per year and/or the age and/or genderof the primary driver), for example, such determinations are generic andare often mostly or entirely not in the control of the insured (e.g.,the insured is not likely to change gender or switch jobs to reducecommuting mileage just to qualify for a lower insurance premium).

Accordingly, in some embodiments, systems, apparatus, methods,interfaces, and articles of manufacture may comprise gathering and/oraggregating or otherwise determining risk data associated with variousareas and/or objects and presenting such data in a manner that is usefulto people, such as insurance clients (or anyone else desiring to beaware of, manage, and/or reduce risk in their lives), or to insurancecompanies for use in assessing, rating and/or pricing an insuranceproduct. Insurance products may include any type of insurance productsor services, including but not limited to property and casualtyinsurance (including but not limited to business/commercial insurance,auto/motor, personal property, real property, watercraft, aircraft,spacecraft, general liability, professional, D&O, E&O, employerliability, business torts, surety and fidelity bonds, product liability,or any other type of insurance coverage).

In some embodiments, insurance policies and/or premiums thereof may bebased (at least in part) on risk zones associated with insured client(and/or potential client). An insurance company may, for example,determine risk data, process the risk data, provide the risk data (e.g.,to one or more clients), receive an indication in response to theproviding of the risk data (e.g., a selection of a risk-related optionand/or an indication of an action and/or activity of a client), and/ordetermine insurance information (e.g., premium levels, surcharges,discounts, deductible levels, and/or rewards) based on the receivedindication.

As used herein, the term “client” may generally refer to any type,quantity, and or manner of entity with or for which policy, risk,telematics, and/or premium information may be determined in accordancewith embodiments described herein. A client may comprise, for example, abusiness, company, and/or other entity that seeks to price and/or obtainan insurance and/or other underwriting policy as described herein. Aclient may have an existing business relationship with other entitiesdescribed herein, such as an insurance company for example, or may notyet have such a relationship—i.e., a “client” may comprise a “potentialclient”.

Client-related risk data may comprise, for example, risk data providedby a client, risk data provided to a client, risk data descriptive ofone or more areas or objects associated with the client (e.g., risk datafor a road that the client's fleet vehicles travel on and/or risk datafor an object that the client's business frequently interfaceswith—directly or indirectly, such as a copier or a furnace,respectively), risk data utilized to price, select, sell, and/orunderwrite an insurance product (or product offering) for the client,and/or any combinations thereof.

As used herein, the term “risk zone” may generally refer to an objectand/or area (or portion of either) for which data indicative of risk isknown, provided, obtained, and/or otherwise determined. The dataindicative of risk may, for example, comprise data descriptive of eventsthat have occurred in association with the object and/or area such asaccidents, crimes, and/or other forms or types of losses or casualties.Risk data utilized to define risk zones may include, but is not limitedto, car accident data, police logs or reports, insurance loss data,hospital data, veterinary data, forest and/or wildlife data, and/orenvironmental data. In some embodiments, risk data and/or risk zonesdeveloped therefrom may comprise sub-categories, such as the type ofmotor vehicle accident being categorized into car vs. car, car vs.truck, car vs. deer, car vs. guardrail, etc., and/or being segmentedinto different times of day, days of the week, weeks, months, seasons,etc.

Turning first to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a system 100 according tosome embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the system 100 maycomprise a plurality of risk zone data devices 106 a-n. The risk zonedevices 106 a-n may collect and/or store data descriptive and/orindicative of a level of risk of one or more objects and/or areas (e.g.,zones). The risk zone devices 106 a-n may, for example, comprise one ormore databases, third-party data devices, sensors (e.g., web-basedcameras and/or motion sensors, or other risk sensors such as one or moretelematic devices as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/316,754 filed on Dec. 12, 2011 and titled “MONITORING CLIENT-SELECTEDVEHICLE PARAMETERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH CLIENT PREFERENCES”, the telematicmonitoring and data concepts and descriptions of which are herebyincorporated by reference herein), and/or sensing devices configuredand/or situated to determine risk zone data. In some embodiments, therisk zone data gathered and/or stored by one or more of the risk zonedata devices 106 a-n can be queried, collected, sensed, looked-up,and/or otherwise obtained and/or determined by a risk zone processingdevice 110. The risk zone processing device 110 may, for example,comprise one or more computers and/or servers in communication with therisk zone devices 106 a-n. The risk zone processing device 110 may, insome embodiments, offer the risk zone information for sale and/orsubscription to various entities, for various purposes.

According to some embodiments for example, the system 100 may also oralternatively comprise one or more of an insurance device 120 a, ashopping device 120 b, a navigation device 120 c, an advertising device120 d, a prioritization device 120 e, and/or any other risk zone datadevice 120 f. Any or all risk zone data collected, aggregated, and/orprocessed by the risk zone processing device 110, for example, may beprovided to any or all of the insurance device 120 a, the shoppingdevice 120 b, the navigation device 120 c, the advertising device 120 d,the prioritization device 120 e, and/or the other risk zone data device120 f. In some embodiments, any or all of the components 106 a-n, 110,120 a-f of the system 100 may be similar in configuration, quantity,and/or functionality to any similarly-named and/or numbered componentsdescribed in accordance with embodiments herein.

The insurance device 120 a may comprise, for example, a device (and/orsystem) owned and/or operated by or on behalf of or for the benefit ofan insurance company (and/or a client thereof). The insurance companymay utilize risk zone information, in some embodiments, to manage,analyze, design, rate, price, and/or otherwise structure, sell,underwrite, and/or purchase insurance products. Risk zone informationmay, for example, enhance the accuracy of insurance risk assessments andthus lead to more profitable, affordable, and/or reliable insuranceproduct offerings. In some embodiments, risk zone information may beutilized to provide discounted premiums and/or other incentives orbenefits to insurance clients. An insurance company may provide adiscount to a client willing to allow the insurer (or a third-partybenefiting the insurer) access to risk zone information (such as numberof “near-misses” while driving automobile fleet and/or business vehicleand/or while driving on a particular road or stretch thereof), forexample, and/or may utilize risk zone information to note that amunicipality and/or business qualifies for a reduced insurance rateand/or risk rating (or should be charged a higher rate due to anincreased risk rating for being in a particular risk zone). In someembodiments, insurance premiums, deductibles, surcharges, discounts,and/or rewards may be based on whether or not a client accesses and/orutilizes risk zone information.

The shopping device 120 b may, according to some embodiments, comprise adevice (and/or system) that is utilized to incorporate risk zoneinformation into shopping-related decision making processes. Retailersand/or other merchants may, in some embodiments, utilize risk zoneinformation to affect pricing, stocking, and/or staffing decisions, suchas by analyzing which areas of a store or aisle are most prone toshop-lifting and/or which areas and/or types of products are most likelyto cause spills, slips, and/or falls.

The navigation device 120 c may, according to some embodiments, comprisea device configured to make and/or facilitate navigational decisionsbased on risk zones. Risk zone data for certain roadways at certaintimes, for example, may be utilized to plot routes that are likely to beleast (or less) risky (e.g., to avoid routes that have high number ofcar accidents, car jackings, vehicle thefts, cargo thefts, etc.). Insome embodiments, navigational routing may be altered (e.g., a “detour”function) and/or set based (at least in part) on risk zone information.A navigation device 120 c that provides routing instructions from afirst point to a second point, for example, may take into account notonly the available routes, distances, and/or likely travel times duringrouting and/or re-routing calculations, but may also take into accountrisk zone information—e.g., by avoiding or suggesting the avoidance ofhigh-risk areas in association with possible routes (and/or detourroutes) between the first and second points.

In some embodiments, the advertising device 120 d may comprise a device(and/or system) utilized by and/or on behalf of one or more advertisingentities. Advertisers may, for example, utilize risk zone information tostructure, place, analyze, and/or otherwise manage advertisements and/oradvertising campaigns—such as prioritizing which advertisements getdisplayed and/or when or where (e.g., for companies that providesservices that may be of use to people who have been affected by a highrisk zone effect). For example, a high auto accident risk zone may begood area to billboard advertise for, e.g., law firms, tow trucks,auto-body shops, and/or hospitals).

According to some embodiments, the prioritization device 120 e maycomprise a device that otherwise makes and/or facilitates prioritizationdecisions based on risk zone data. The order of performing errands ortasks may be prioritized based on risk associated with the objects to bevisited (e.g., time-based risk), for example, providing a suggestionthat a client “go to customer #1's service call first”, “then pick upsupplies at the warehouse”, because going to the warehouse at thecurrent time of day is more likely to result in an accident (compared tothe suggested time—e.g., after having conducted the service call). Insome embodiments, overall and/or “blended” risk zones may be utilizedfor navigation and/or prioritization. While a first road may be morerisky (in general and/or at the current time) than a second road, forexample, the first road may allow a person to arrive at a productdelivery location during a time of less risk at the location, while thesecond and less risky road would not. Thus, the overall risk of a route,itinerary, and/or schedule may be determined and/or managed (e.g., toreduce expected and/or relative risk). Similarly, while a particulartime can be established at which an assembly line will be less risky(e.g., fewer incidents per unit time than other times of the day, week,month, etc.), some embodiments may combine items on an itinerary, suchas delivering material to the assembly line and printing invoices, todetermine that the assembly line should be visited at a different (andperhaps even riskier) time, e.g., to avoid and/or reduce risk at alocation/device where the invoices are printed (for which risk may, forexample, be a more difficult and/or serious affair than would otherwisebe experienced).

The other risk zone data device 120 f may comprise any other type and/orconfiguration of device that may be utilized to make and/or facilitatedecision making processes based at least in part on risk zoneinformation. The other risk zone data device 120 f, for example, maycomprise a device configured to monitor and/or analyze risk zone datafor determining and/or suggesting a variety of activities, actions,avoidance practices, scheduling, and/or other guidance for a clientbased on risk zone data. In some embodiments, for example, a other riskzone device 120 f may comprise a Personal Computer (PC), smart phone,fitness device, automation controller, security system, softwareapplication, web-based interface and/or tool that, any other networkdevice and/or any combinations thereof, that facilitate provision ofrisk zone data to a client. In some embodiments, the other risk zonedevice 120 f may comprise a device configured to monitor and/or analyzerisk zone data for event planning, crowd control, etc. Furthermore, anyindustry that can benefit from the use of risk zone information may usethis information. For example, advertising/marketing and/or promotionalagencies/businesses may utilize risk zone data pertaining to stores todetermine the effectiveness of advertisements, crowd control services orgovernment agencies/police may utilize risk zone data to determine whereto place staff and how many resources are needed for a given event,business consulting firms may use such data for helping businessesdetermine where to locate the next store, banks/lending institutions mayuse risk zone data to determine which businesses to lend money to,and/or businesses may use risk zone levels to determine appropriatestaffing levels.

In some embodiments, various user interfaces (e.g., the interfaces 600,700, 800, 900 of FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and/or FIG. 9 herein) may beutilized to enhance the ability to comprehend and/or utilize risk zonedata/indices (which may often represent complex risk zone metrics,calculations, and/or concepts). An application for a mobile device (suchas an Apple® iPhone® application, for example) may, in some embodiments,provide a visual indication of various risk zone metrics for stores,entertainment venues (such as amusement parks), restaurants, roads,buses, trains, etc., that are nearby and/or are otherwise of interest.According to some embodiments, risk zone data may be depicted visuallyon a map and/or as a layer on a map, such as may be provided, forexample, by Google® Maps. Such visually-depicted risk zone informationmay comprise real-time, delayed, historical (e.g., historical aggregate,average, trend), and/or predicted data. In such a manner, for example, aclient of risk zone data may utilize a mobile and/or other device toview a map of risk zone data that allows the client to plantravel/transportation, business deliveries, service calls, and/or othertasks with an eye toward how “risky” such endeavors may be. In someembodiments, viewing and/or utilization of risk zone data may qualifythe client for reduced insurance premiums and/or deductibles, insurancediscounts, and/or other rewards.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a process 200 according tosome embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the process 200 may beperformed and/or implemented by and/or otherwise associated with one ormore specialized and/or specially-programmed computers (e.g., the riskzone processing device 110 of FIG. 1), computer terminals, computerservers, computer systems and/or networks, and/or any combinationsthereof (e.g., by one or more insurance company and/or underwritercomputers). The process diagrams and flow diagrams described herein donot necessarily imply a fixed order to any depicted actions, steps,and/or procedures, and embodiments may generally be performed in anyorder that is practicable unless otherwise and specifically noted. Anyof the processes and methods described herein may be performed and/orfacilitated by hardware, software (including microcode), firmware, orany combination thereof. For example, a storage medium (e.g., a harddisk, Random Access Memory (RAM) device, cache memory device, UniversalSerial Bus (USB) mass storage device, and/or Digital Video Disk (DVD);e.g., the data storage devices 1140 a-d of FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C,and/or FIG. 11D herein) may store thereon instructions that whenexecuted by a machine (such as a computerized processor) result inperformance according to any one or more of the embodiments describedherein.

According to some embodiments, the process 200 may comprise one or moreactions associated with risk zone data 202 a-n. The risk zone data 202a-n of one or more objects and/or areas that may be related to and/orotherwise associated with an insurance product and/or policy, forexample, may be determined, calculated, looked-up, retrieved, and/orderived. In some embodiments, the risk zone data 202 a-n may be gatheredas raw data directly from one or more risk zone data sources asdescribed herein and/or configured to record data indicative of a levelof risk of the object and/or area.

As depicted in FIG. 2, risk zone data 202 a-n from a plurality of datasources may be gathered. The plurality of risk zone data 202 a-n maycomprise information indicative of a level of risk of a single object orarea or may comprise information indicative of a level of risk of aplurality of objects and/or areas and/or types of objects and/or areas.First risk zone data 202 a may, for example, be descriptive of insurancecompany claim data (or insurance industry loss data—e.g., ComprehensiveLoss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) data, available from a third-partydata source such as the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO)), and/ormay comprise federal, state, regional, town/local, and/or municipal datareports, such as police reports, fire department reports, Department ofTransportation (DOT) reports, and/or Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV)reports, providing accident or crime data at various locations. Otherrisk zone data 202 n may comprise, in some embodiments, public newsand/or weather feeds and/or databases regarding accident or crimestories at various locations and weather conditions. In someembodiments, the first risk zone data 202 a may comprise other private,public or volunteer first responder data reports, such as hospitalreports, ambulance/EMT data, tow truck data, American AutomobileAssociation (AAA) data, National Highway Transportation Administration(NHTSA) data, and the like (e.g., providing accident and/or crime dataat various locations).

In some embodiments, the risk zone data 202 a-n may be descriptive ofpolice report and/or other crime data for businesses such assupermarkets in a particular geographic region. In some embodiments, therisk zone data 202 a-n may be descriptive of an average number ofinjuries per hour at a particular location and/or within a particulararea (e.g., building, city, road, county, state, geographic and/ortopographic area), while other risk zone data 202 a-n may be descriptiveof a number of experienced malfunctions and/or failed safety inspectionsat a particular drawbridge.

According to some embodiments, the process 200 may also or alternativelycomprise one or more actions associated with risk zone processing 210.As depicted in FIG. 2, for example, some or all of the risk zone data202 a-n may be determined, gathered, transmitted and/or received, and/orotherwise obtained for risk zone processing 210. In some embodiments,risk zone processing 210 may comprise aggregation, analysis,calculation, filtering, conversion, encoding and/or decoding (includingencrypting and/or decrypting), sorting, ranking, de-duping, and/or anycombinations thereof.

According to some embodiments, a processing device may execute speciallyprogrammed instructions to process (e.g., the risk zone processing 210)the risk zone data 202 a-n to define a risk zone metric and/or index.Such a risk zone metric may, for example, be descriptive (in aqualitative and/or quantitative manner) of historic, current, and/orpredicted risk levels of an object and/or area. In some embodiments, therisk zone metric may be time-dependent (e.g., a level of risk of acomputer network being down may be determined based on any given time ofday), time or frequency based (e.g., accidents per hour), and/or anaverage, mean, and/or other statistically normalized value (e.g., anindex).

According to some embodiments, there may be a correlation between therisk level and weather events when determining risk of loss. Forexample, a given risk level may correlate to a higher risk when there isice, snow, or rain likely to occur, than when it is dry.

In some embodiments, the process 200 may also or alternatively compriseone or more actions associated with insurance underwriting 220.Insurance underwriting 220 may generally comprise any type, variety,and/or configuration of underwriting process and/or functionality thatis or becomes known or practicable. Insurance underwriting 220 maycomprise, for example, simply consulting a pre-existing rule, criteria,and/or threshold to determine if an insurance product may be offered,underwritten and/or issued to clients, based on any relevant risk zonedata 202 a-n. One example of an insurance underwriting 220 process maycomprise one or more of risk assessment 230 and/or premium calculation240 (e.g., as shown in FIG. 2). In some embodiments, while both the riskassessment 230 and the premium calculation 240 are depicted as beingpart of an exemplary insurance underwriting 220 procedure, either orboth of the risk assessment 230 and the premium calculation 240 mayalternatively be part of a different process and/or different type ofprocess (and/or may not be included in the process 200, as is or becomespracticable and/or desirable).

The risk zone data 202 a-n and/or a result of the risk zone processing210 may, for example, be determined and utilized to conduct riskassessment 230 for any of a variety of purposes. In some embodiments,the risk assessment 230 may be conducted as part of a rating process fordetermining how to structure an insurance product and/or offering. A“rating engine” utilized in an insurance underwriting process may, forexample, retrieve a risk zone metric (e.g., provided as a result of therisk zone processing 210) for input into a calculation (and/or series ofcalculations and/or a mathematical model) to determine a level of riskor the amount of risky behavior likely to be associated with aparticular object and/or area. In some embodiments, how often a clienttravels through a high risk zone route may correspond to a high riskzone metric associated with that client. In some embodiments, the riskassessment 230 may comprise determining that a client views and/orutilizes risk zone information (e.g., made available to the client viathe insurance company and/or a third-party).

According to some embodiments, the process 200 may also or alternativelycomprise one or more actions associated with premium calculation 240(e.g., which may be part of the insurance underwriting 220). In the casethat the process 200 comprises the insurance underwriting 220 process,for example, the premium calculation 240 may be utilized by a “pricingengine” to calculate (and/or look-up or otherwise determine) anappropriate premium to charge for an insurance policy associated withthe object and/or area for which the risk zone data 202 a-n wascollected and for which the risk assessment 230 was performed. In someembodiments, the object and/or area analyzed may comprise an objectand/or area for which an insurance product is sought (e.g., the analyzedobject may comprise an automobile for which an automobile insurancepolicy is desired or a business for which business insurance isdesired). According to some embodiments, the object and/or area analyzedmay be an object and/or area other than the object and/or area for whichinsurance is sought (e.g., the analyzed object and/or area may comprisea tunnel through which the automobile for which the automobile insurancepolicy is desired is often driven or a road which has had a high numberof accidents over the past twelve (12) months, or other desired period).

According to some embodiments, the process 200 may also or alternativelycomprise one or more actions associated with insurance policy quoteand/or issuance 250. Once a policy has been rated, priced or quoted andthe client has accepted the coverage terms, the insurance company may,for example, bind and issue the policy by hard copy and/orelectronically to the client/insured. In some embodiments, the quotedand/or issued policy may comprise a business insurance policy such as abusiness liability policy, a fleet insurance policy, a cargo and/orgoods insurance policy, and/or a workers compensation and/or officersand executives insurance policy.

In general, a client may visit a website and/or an insurance agent, forexample, provide the needed information about the client and type ofdesired insurance, and request an insurance policy and/or product.According to some embodiments, the insurance underwriting 220 may beperformed utilizing information about the potential client and thepolicy may be issued based on a result thereof. Insurance coverage may,for example, be evaluated, rated, priced, and/or sold to one or moreclients, at least in part based on the risk zone data 202 a-n. In someembodiments, an insurance company may have the potential client indicateelectronically, on-line, or otherwise whether they have any risk zonesensing (e.g., telematics) devices (and/or which specific devices theyhave) and/or whether they are willing to install them or have theminstalled. In some embodiments, this may be done by check boxes, radiobuttons, or other form of data input/selection, on a web page and/or viaa mobile device application (e.g., via the interfaces 600, 700, 800, 900of FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and/or FIG. 9 herein).

In some embodiments, the process 200 may comprise telematics datagathering, at 252. In the case that a client desires to have telematicsdata monitored, recorded, and/or analyzed, for example, not only maysuch a desire or willingness affect policy pricing (e.g., affect thepremium calculation 240), but such a desire or willingness may alsocause, trigger, and/or facilitate the transmitting and/or receiving,gathering, retrieving, and/or other obtaining of risk zone data 202 a-nfrom one or more telematics devices. As depicted in FIG. 2, results ofthe telematics data gathering at 252 may be utilized to affect the riskassessment 230 and/or the premium calculation 240 (and/or otherwise mayaffect the insurance underwriting 220).

According to some embodiments, the process 200 may also or alternativelycomprise one or more actions associated with claims 260. In theinsurance context, for example, after an insurance product is providedand/or policy is issued (e.g., via the insurance policy quote andissuance 250), and/or during or after telematics data gathering 252, oneor more insurance claims 260 may be filed against the product/policy. Insome embodiments, such as in the case that a first object associatedwith the insurance policy is somehow involved with one or more insuranceclaims 260, first risk zone data 202 a of the object or related objectsmay be gathered and/or otherwise obtained. According to someembodiments, such risk zone data 202 a-n may comprise data indicative ofa level of risk of the object and/or area (or area in which the objectwas located) at the time of casualty or loss (e.g., as defined by theone or more claims 260). Information on claims 260 may be provided tothe risk zone processing 210, risk assessment 230, and/or premiumcalculation 240 to update, improve, and/or enhance these proceduresand/or associated software and/or devices.

In some embodiments, the process 200 may also or alternatively compriseinsurance policy renewal review 270. Risk zone data 202 a-n may beutilized, for example, to determine if and/or how an existing insurancepolicy (e.g., provided via the insurance policy quote and issuance 250)may be renewed. According to some embodiments, such as in the case thata client is involved with and/or in charge of (e.g., responsible for)providing the risk zone data 202 a-n, a review may be conducted todetermine if the correct amount, frequency, and/or type or quality ofthe risk zone data 202 a-n was indeed provided by the client during theoriginal term of the policy. In the case that the risk zone data 202 a-nwas lacking, the policy may not, for example, be renewed and/or anydiscount received by the client for providing the risk zone data 202 a-nmay be revoked or reduced. In some embodiments, the client may beoffered a discount for having certain risk zone sensing devices or beingwilling to install them or have them installed (or be willing to adhereto certain thresholds based on measurements from such devices). In someembodiments, analysis of the received risk zone data 202 a-n inassociation with the policy may be utilized to determine if the clientconformed to various criteria and/or rules set forth in the originalpolicy. In the case that the client satisfied applicable policyrequirements (e.g., as verified by received risk zone data 202 a-n), thepolicy may be eligible for renewal and/or discounts. In the case thatdeviations from policy requirements are determined (e.g., based on therisk zone data 202 a-n), the policy may not be eligible for renewal, adifferent policy may be applicable, and/or one or more surcharges and/orother penalties may be applied.

According to some embodiments, the process 200 may comprise one or moreactions associated with risk/loss control 280. Any or all data (e.g.,risk zone data 202 a-n and/or other data) gathered as part of a processfor claims 260, for example, may be gathered, collected, and/or analyzedto determine how (if at all) one or more of a rating engine (e.g., therisk assessment 230), a pricing engine (e.g., the premium calculation240), the insurance underwriting 220, and/or the risk zone processing210, should be updated to reflect actual and/or realized risk, costs,and/or other issues associated with the risk zone data 202 a-n. Resultsof the risk/loss control 280 may, according to some embodiments, be fedback into the process 200 to refine the risk assessment 230, the premiumcalculation 240 (e.g., for subsequent insurance queries and/orcalculations), the insurance policy renewal review 270 (e.g., are-calculation of an existing policy for which the one or more claims260 were filed), and/or the risk zone processing 210 to appropriatelyscale the output of the risk assessment 230.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a system 300 according to someembodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the system 300 may compriseone or more risk zone data gathering devices 306 a-d, a risk zone dataaggregator device 308, a risk zone data processing device 310, a riskzone portal device 380, a subscriber device 392, and/or a client device394. According to some embodiments, any or all of the components 306a-d, 308, 310, 380, 392, 394 of the system 300 may be similar inconfiguration, quantity, and/or functionality to any similarly namedand/or numbered components described herein. Fewer or more components306 a-d, 308, 310, 380, 392, 394 and/or various configurations of thecomponents 306 a-d, 308, 310, 380, 392, 394 may be included in thesystem 300 without deviating from the scope of embodiments describedherein. While multiples of some components 306 a-d are depicted andwhile single instances of other components 308, 310, 380, 392, 394 aredepicted, for example, any component 306 a-d, 308, 310, 380, 392, 394depicted in the system 300 may be removed from the system 300, maycomprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 306a-d, 308, 310, 380, 392, 394, and/or a plurality of devices, as is orbecomes desirable and/or practicable.

According to some embodiments, the system 300 may be configured togather, aggregate, and/or process risk zone data (e.g., the risk zonedata 202 a-n of FIG. 2 herein) for a plurality of objects and/or areas.While any type of desired object and/or area may be monitored and/oranalyzed to determine risk zone data and/or indicators thereof, suchobjects and/or areas may generally fall into one or more categoriesand/or classes. Such categories may include, but are not limited to, forexample, a transportation conduit category containing a transportationconduit object and/or area, a location category containing a locationobject and/or area, a communication conduit category containing acommunication conduit object and/or area, and/or a mechanical categorycontaining a mechanical object and/or area.

As described herein, a transportation conduit object and/or area maygenerally comprise one or more transportation pathways such assidewalks, paths, streets, highways, canals, seaways and/or shippinglanes, railroads, aisles in supermarkets, etc. A location object and/orarea may generally comprise one or more physical locations such asbuildings, street corners, intersections, railroad crossings, stores,shops, malls, entertainment facilities (e.g., sports tracks, casinos,and/or theatres), bridges, tunnels, etc. A communication conduit objectand/or area may generally comprise one or more communication pathwayssuch as radio frequencies, wireless and/or wired networks, computersystems, electrical wires (e.g., electrical and/or optical transmissionlines that “communicate” electricity and/or optically), websites, chatrooms, social media sites and/or games, etc. A mechanical object and/orarea may generally comprise one or more vehicles such as cars, trucks,vans, buses, bicycles, motorcycles, mopeds, scooters, trolleys, trains,trams, subway cars, ships, boats, jet-skis/wave runners, and/or one ormore elevators, escalators, drawbridge mechanisms, railroad crossingsignals, railroad track switches, electrical transformers, electricalinverters, electrical generation equipment and/or machines, cranes,conveyer belts, factory equipment, and/or portions or parts thereof.

In some embodiments, the risk zone data gathering devices 306 a-d may bein communication with and/or otherwise coupled to receive datadescriptive of the objects and/or areas. The risk zone data gatheringdevices 306 a-d may be utilized, for example, to sense (e.g., in thecase of a sensor such as a telematics device), monitor, retrieve (e.g.,such as by scanning and/or copying), store, sort, rank, and/or otherwiseorganize and/or process data descriptive of the objects and/or areas.The data gathered may generally comprise data that is indicative of somemeasure of risk of one or more of the objects and/or areas (and/or thatis descriptive of one or more of the objects and/or areas but isindicative of the risk level of another object and/or area). In someembodiments, one or more of the risk zone data gathering devices 306 a-nmay conduct pre-processing of the gathered data. Analog data mayconverted to digital form, for example, data may be grouped, sorted,and/or cleansed (e.g., duplicate data and/or outliers may be removed),compressed, and/or encoded or encrypted data (such as from a “secure”sensor and/or data storage system) may be decoded or decrypted.Similarly, raw data gathered from one or more of the objects and/orareas may be encoded and/or encrypted by a risk zone data gatheringdevice 306 a-d (e.g., prior to transmitting and/or otherwise providingthe information to the risk zone data aggregator device 308).

In some embodiments, risk zone data may be obtained from a vendor and/orthird-party, such as a police department, fire department, emergencyresponse unit, roadside assistance organization, hospital, doctor,insurance company, DOT, Department of Natural Resources (DNR),Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and/or DMV. Data may also oralternatively be provided by other vendors and/or state and federalagencies.

According to some embodiments, the risk zone data aggregator device 308may gather, retrieve, sort, rank, store, and/or otherwise organizeand/or obtain risk zone data from one or more of the risk zone datagathering devices 306 a-d (such as by executing the processes 200, 500and/or method 400 described in conjunction with FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and/orFIG. 5 herein, or any portions, steps, and/or procedures thereof). Therisk zone data aggregator device 308 may further filter and/or cleansethe data to eliminate duplicate data received from the various risk zonedata gathering devices 306 a-d. In some embodiments, the risk zone dataaggregator device 308 may comprise a “bot” and/or may store a programthat seeks and retrieves risk zone data from various sources (such asfrom the risk zone data gathering devices 306 a-d and/or from a thirdparty-device or system (not explicitly shown in FIG. 3) such as a policelog or a CLUE database). In one embodiment, such as in the case whereeach of the risk zone data gathering devices 306 a-d comprises a webcam,for example, the risk zone data aggregator device 308 may comprise acamera hub, Digital Video Recorder (DVR), and/or PC configured toreceive data from each of the webcams 306 a-d. In some embodiments, therisk zone data aggregator device 308 may also or alternatively performother functions such as data load management, power distribution (e.g.,providing electrical power to the plurality of risk zone data gatheringdevices 306 a-d, such as by functioning as Power Sourcing Equipment(PSE) in accordance with the Power over Ethernet (PoE) transmissionstandard 802.3At® published by the IEEE, Sep. 1, 2009). In someembodiments, the risk zone data aggregator device 308 may provideaggregated risk zone data to the risk zone data processing device 310.

The risk zone data processing device 310 may, for example, comprise oneor more CPU devices and/or other logic components (e.g., a computerizedand/or electronic processor) coupled to receive aggregated risk zonedata from the risk zone data aggregator device 308. As described herein,the risk zone data processing device 310 may perform various processingfunctions (such as the processes 200, 500 and/or method 400 described inconjunction with FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and/or FIG. 5 herein, or any portions,steps, and/or procedures thereof) on the aggregated risk zone data,including computation of a risk zone model. The results of suchprocessing may, according to some embodiments, comprise definition ofone or more risk zone metrics such as risk zone ranks, scores, tiers,and/or indices associated with the risk zone model. In some embodiments,the risk zone data processing device 310 may also or alternatively storethe aggregated risk zone data. The risk zone data processing device 310may comprise, for example, a plurality of data storage devices (notseparately depicted in FIG. 3; such as the data storage devices 1140 a-dof FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, and/or FIG. 11D herein) that store raw,pre-processed, aggregated, summarized, and/or historical risk zone datadescriptive of the risk of the desired objects and/or areas. The riskzone data processing device 310 may also or alternatively store one ormore qualitative and/or quantitative risk zone scores, ranks, tiers,and/or indices associated with the objects and/or areas. In someembodiments, the risk zone data processing device 310 may also oralternatively perform other functionality such as facilitating riskassessment and/or premium determinations (e.g., the risk zone dataprocessing device 310 may comprise one or more computers operating aspecialized program and/or instructions that utilize risk zone data toassess risk and calculate premiums for insurance policies—e.g., theinsurance underwriting 220 of FIG. 2).

Risk zone data and/or a risk zone levels or indices may also oralternatively be determined for multiple portions and/or parts of agiven object and/or area. For example, in a supermarket, the delicounter, the various aisles, and/or the check-out counters, may eachhave their own respective risk zone data level and/or rating. In such acase, the overall risk zone rating/level for the supermarket at anygiven time may be a combination of each of the sub-risk zone levels ofthe object/area (e.g., some mathematical expression combining each ofthe risk zone levels of the deli counter, one or more aisles, and/or oneor more check-out counters of the supermarket). In some embodiments,there may be multiple and/or sub-risk zone levels or indices that arecalculated and provided for different areas and/or parts of a givenobject/area, e.g., Deli-High, Checkout-Low, Aisles-Med. These sub-levelsmay be utilized, for example, to predict how risk levels change from onearea/part of an object to another. For example, if the aisles of asupermarket have a “high” risk zone level but the check-out countershave a “low” risk zone (e.g., at any particular point and/or range intime), it may be possible to predict when and/or to what extent the riskzone level of the check-out counter may increase. Similarly, if theentry-way risk zone level is “high”, the aisles may experience “high”risk zone levels soon (such as in the case that risk is based in termsof busyness, as described in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/978,535 filed on Dec. 24, 2010, in the name ofCollins and titled “RISK ASSESSMENT AND CONTROL, INSURANCE PREMIUMDETERMINATIONS, AND OTHER APPLICATIONS USING BUSYNESS”, the busynessconcepts of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein). Suchprocessing and/or predictive modeling may be performed, for example, bythe risk zone data aggregator device 308 and/or the risk zone dataprocessing device 310.

In some embodiments, the system 300 may include the risk zone portaldevice 380 that may, for example, be communicatively coupled to receiverisk zone data and/or metrics from the risk zone data processing device310 and/or communicatively coupled to provide such data and/or metricsto one or more of the subscriber device 392 and the client device 394.According to some embodiments, the risk zone portal device 380 maycomprise a server and/or web server configured to function as a “frontend” and/or to provide a Graphical User Interface (GUI) via whichsubscribers and/or clients may access and/or purchase risk zone dataand/or metrics. The risk zone portal device 380 may comprise, forexample, an e-commerce “store front” such as may be implementedutilizing StoreFront.net™ provided by StoreFront® sCommerce of Olathe(Kansas City metropolitan area), KS, and/or may be sold and/or providedas an application for a cellular telephone or PDA, such as an Apple®iPhone® application. In such a manner, corporate clients and/orsubscribers may access and/or be provided with risk zone data forbusiness purposes such as for structuring insurance policy terms and/orpremiums and/or for accessing risk zone data for informative and/ordecision-making purposes (such as which delivery and/or servicecustomers are situated in high-risk areas, which routes are least riskyfor transportation of “target” goods or commodities, etc.).

The subscriber device 392 and/or the client device 394 may, according tosome embodiments, be or include any type or configuration of networkdevice and/or computing device that is or becomes known or practicable.The subscriber device 392 and/or the client device 394 may, for example,comprise a telephone (e.g., wired or wireless) and/or othercommunication device associated with a client of or subscriber to riskzone metrics and/or data as described herein. In some embodiments,either or both of the subscriber device 392 and the client device 394may comprise a portable device and/or mobile terminal such as a PDA, acellular telephone, a GPS navigation device, a laptop and/or tabletcomputer, etc. The subscriber device 392 may generally be owned and/oroperated by an entity that owns and/or has access to a subscription torisk zone data and/or metrics provided by the risk zone portal device380. The client device 394 may, in some embodiments, comprise asubscriber device 392 or may comprise, for example, a companyworkstation communicatively coupled to the risk zone portal device 380,that may comprise a corporate server and/or corporate-owned and licensedsoftware program and/or package configured to gather, process, and/orprovide (e.g., display) risk zone data.

Although the risk zone data gathering devices 306 a-d, the risk zonedata aggregator device 308, and the risk zone data processing device 310are depicted as separate devices in FIG. 3, in some embodiments, any orall of the components 306 a-d, 308, 310, 380, 392, 394 of the system 300(such as the risk zone data gathering devices 306 a-d, the risk zonedata aggregator device 308, and the risk zone data processing device310) may be embodied in a single device, apparatus, and/orinterconnected system. A single entity (such as an insurance company)may own and/or operate devices configured and/or coupled to function asany or all of the components 306 a-d, 308, 310, 380, 392, 394 of thesystem 300, for example, or a single computer and/or computer server orsystem may perform any or all of such functions. In some embodiments,risk zone data gathering devices 306 a-d may also or alternativelycollect, gather, store, and/or provide other types of data such asenvironmental conditions (e.g., weather).

In some embodiments, data indicative of risk zones and/or risk zonemetrics and/or indices may be output and/or provided in variousadvantageous forms. Data may be provided utilizing graphs, charts,tables, maps, and/or other visual and/or tabular forms of output as isor becomes desirable or practicable. According to some embodiments, suchoutput may be provided via mobile devices (e.g., operated by clientsand/or field agents) such as smart phones, PDA devices, tablet computers(e.g., the Apple® iPad™), etc., and/or via one or more other GUIinterfaces such as via a website and/or kiosk (e.g., via one or more ofthe interfaces 600, 700, 800, 900 of FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and/or FIG.9 herein).

Turning now to FIG. 4, a flowchart of a method 400 according to someembodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the method 400 may beperformed and/or implemented by and/or otherwise associated with one ormore specialized and/or specially-programmed computers (e.g., the riskzone processing devices 110, 310 of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 herein),computer terminals, computer servers, computer systems and/or networks,and/or any combinations thereof (e.g., by one or more insurance companyand/or underwriter computers). In some embodiments, a storage medium(e.g., a hard disk, RAM device, cache memory device, USB mass storagedevice, and/or DVD; e.g., the data storage devices 1140 a-d of FIG. 11A,FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, and/or FIG. 11D herein) may store thereoninstructions that when executed by a machine (such as a computerizedand/or electronic processor or processing device) result in performanceof the method 400 and/or portions thereof.

According to some embodiments, the method 400 may determine risk data,at 402. As described herein, for example, data regarding potential,actual, perceived, and/or predicted risk of an object and/or area may bereceived from one or more sources. In some embodiments, risk data may beretrieved from a data storage device, such as by utilizing a storedidentifier assigned to a particular area and/or object. In the case thatthe method 400 comprises an insurance underwriting, sales, issuance,re-issuance, and/or evaluation process, risk data associated with anexisting or potential insurance policy may be retrieved from a database.If a client desires to insure a fleet of vehicles, for example, riskdata regarding the vehicle(s), roads the vehicle(s) is operated on, anarea in which the vehicle(s) is/are garaged, and/or data regardingcharacteristics of likely (or allowed) operators of the vehicle(s) maybe obtained.

In some embodiments, the method 400 may process risk data, at 404. Riskdata received and/or otherwise determined at 402, for example, may beanalyzed to determine a level of risk associated with the desired policy(e.g., the risk assessment 230 of FIG. 2). In some embodiments, such asin the case that risk data is pre-processed and/or processed by athird-party, no analysis and/or minimal analysis may be needed.Processing the risk data at 404 may comprise, for example, formattingthe risk data for provision to one or more clients. In some embodiments,the processing may comprise formatting and/or exporting the risk zonedata for utilization in or by a client's existing software, such as afleet vehicle management and/or tracking program or application.

According to some embodiments, the method 400 may provide risk data, at406. The risk data determined at 402 and/or processed at 404 may, forexample, be uploaded to a website, published, broadcast, transmitted,exported to a client's system, device, and/or application, and/orotherwise provided to one or more clients. In some embodiments, the riskdata may be provided at 406 via any or all of the interfaces 600, 700,800, 900 of FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and/or FIG. 9 herein. In such amanner, for example, a client may view risk data to make variousdeterminations and/or plan or effectuate various actions. In the casethat the method 400 comprises and/or is associated with an insuranceprocess, the client may be provided with a discounted premium and/orreduced deductible in consideration for the client viewing the risk dataprovided at 406. It may be determined, for example, that a clientviewing the risk data may be more likely to make safer (i.e., lessrisky) decisions after viewing the risk data.

In some embodiments, the method 400 may receive an indication inresponse to providing the risk data, at 408. An indication that theclient actually viewed and/or access the risks data provided at 406 may,for example, be utilized to determine if any given insurance discountand/or pricing should be offered and/or provided to the client. In sucha manner, the frequency, duration, and/or other aspects associated withthe client's viewing and/or utilization of the risk data may be verifiedand/or approximated, such as to make sure that only clients who actuallytake advantage of the risk data obtain the appropriate reward, discount,etc. In some embodiments, there may be requirements regarding how oftenand/or how long a client views, access, and/or utilizes the risk data.Such requirements may be verified by obtaining indications of theclient's usage of, for example, a website, portal, and/or interface viawhich the risk data is provided (e.g., at 406). In some embodiments, thereceived indication may be indicative of one or more actions and/ordecisions that the client has or will make or implement based on therisk data. The indication may, for example, be descriptive of aparticular travel route, method, and/or time frame that has been chosenby the client based on the risk data (e.g., via a navigation device,trip planning software, delivery and/or service schedule, and/or viatravel itinerary and/or ticket purchases and/or reservations).

According to some embodiments, the method 400 may determine insurancedata based on the received indication, at 410. In some embodiments forexample, how (and/or when) the client utilizes the risk data may bedeterminative of an insurance premium, deductible, discount, surcharge,renewal decision, and/or reward. In the case that a client makestransportation decisions in a manner that is likely to reduce risk(e.g., based on the risk data), for example, a reduced insurancepremium, reduced deductible, a discount, and/or a reward may beprovided. In some embodiments, such as in the case that a client viewsor access the risk data in accordance with certain requirements (e.g.,once a week or every time they activate their navigational device intheir vehicle), a discount, reward, etc., may also or alternatively beprovided. According to some embodiments, reward points and/or metricsmay be calculated based on the client's utilization of the risk data.Risk data metrics associated with a client's selection and/or choicesmay be utilized to calculate, for example, a number and/or level ofreward and/or compliance points for the client. Different tiers ofreward levels and/or compliance levels may be established, for example,and a client's points (e.g., based on risk data utilization) may betallied to determine which tier and/or level (e.g., of discount, reward,premium, and/or deductible) the client qualifies for. In someembodiments, the reward, etc. may be provided to the client.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a diagram of a process 500 according to someembodiments is shown. According to some embodiments, the process 500 mayreceive risk zone data 502, such as CLUE data 502 a, police data 502 b,hospital/ambulance data 502 c, and/or other risk data 502 d. The riskzone data 502 a-d of one or more objects and/or areas that may berelated to and/or otherwise associated with an insurance product and/orpolicy, for example, may be determined, transmitted, received,calculated, looked-up, retrieved, and/or derived. In some embodiments,the risk zone data 502 a-d may be gathered and/or aggregated asdescribed with respect to the process 200 of FIG. 2 herein. In someembodiments, some or all of the risk zone data 502 a-d may be obtainedfrom a third-party. The third-party CLUE data 502 a, for example, mayinclude information relating to insurance claims from the CLUE databaseprovided by LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., thepolice report data 502 b may comprise data from police reports availablefrom federal, state, and/or municipal police departments, thehospital/ambulance data 502 c may be available from various medicalfacilities and emergency response units, and/or the other risk data 502d may originate from other third-party sources, such as fire data fromfire departments, weather data from meteorological departments and/oragencies (such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)), and/or emergency automobile response data from various roadsideassistance organizations and/or related sources (e.g., the OnStar®provided by OnStar, LLC of Detroit, Mich.).

According to some embodiments, the process 500 may process the risk data504. The process 500 may, for example, filter data 504 a and/or removeduplicates 504 b. Any or all data 502 a-d received (e.g., at 502) may,for example, be processed as is or becomes desirable and/or practicablefor execution of embodiments described herein. As depicted in FIG. 5,the processed, filtered, and/or de-duplicated data may be utilized todetermine a risk zone model 506. In some embodiments, the determinationof the risk zone model 506 may comprise additional data aggregationand/or processing that may include analysis, calculation, conversion,encoding, and/or decoding (including encrypting and/or decrypting),sorting, ranking, and/or any combinations thereof. According to someembodiments, the processed data, comprising the risk zone model, may beoutput. The process 500 may, for example, output a risk zone interface508. In some embodiments, the risk zone interface may be similar toand/or comprise any or all of the interfaces 600, 700, 800, 900 of FIG.6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and/or FIG. 9 herein and/or may be utilized tographically display various parameters, metrics, and/or indicesdescriptive of the riskiness of various areas and/or objects.

Referring to FIG. 6, an example interface 600 according to someembodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the interface 600 may begenerated and/or presented (e.g., output) by a device such as theinsurance device 120 a, the shopping device 120 b, the navigation device120 c, the advertising device 120 d, the prioritization device 120 e,and/or the other risk zone data device 120 f of the system 100 of FIG. 1and/or the risk zone portal device 380, the subscriber device 392 and/orclient device 394 of the system 300 of FIG. 3 herein. The interface 600may, for example, comprise a map 610 such as may be provided by amapping application, website, navigational device, and/or software suchas Google® maps provided by Google®, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.and/or TomTom® International with U.S. headquarters in Concord, Mass. Insome embodiments, the interface 600 may be utilized by an insuranceclient via an electronic device such as a portable telephone (or smartphone), PDA, and/or portable computer (such as a laptop, an iPAD™ orother similar device). The client may download an application providedby the client's insurance provider, for example, login and/or enter theclient's insurance policy number(s) and/or other access code, and accessthe “Risk Zones” interface 600 and/or “Risk Zones” map 610 thereof(e.g., for navigational purposes—such as for planning a vehicle routethat reduces risk exposure and/or reduces insurance premiums), and/orfor obtaining general information about the riskiness of a certain routeor area). In some embodiments, for internet navigational software ornavigational devices, the client may be able to unlock the “Risk Zones”application by indicating that the client is insured by a certaininsurance company and entering the policy number or other access codeprovided to the client by the insurance company (or third-party). Insome embodiments, only clients insured by certain insurance companiesmay access the “Risk Zones” application and there may be a specialsign-in window or icon with the insurance company name on the screen oraccessible from a menu or tab (not shown in FIG. 6). In someembodiments, the application may be made available for purchase byclients or users who are not insurance clients.

As depicted in FIG. 6, map 610 may comprise a navigational aid thatfacilitates a user traveling from the location marked “A” to a locationmarked “B” (and/or a user planning a delivery and/or service call, suchas routing a commercial vehicle from A to B). As is typical with mappingand/or navigational tools, a recommended route 612 between points A andB may be displayed. On the illustrated map 610 the recommended route 612is indicated by shaded, elliptical marks. The recommended route 612 may,for example, be determined via a typical routing method such as“maximize highways”, “shortest time”, “shortest distance”, and/or a“direct” or “easy” route. In some embodiments, the routing method viawhich the recommended route 612 is determined may be based on risk zoneinformation, metrics, and/or indices.

The interface 600 may, for example, include a risk zone window 620 viawhich a user (e.g., a client) of the interface 600 may view (and/orotherwise access) data descriptive of risk zones associated with the map610. As depicted in FIG. 6, for example, the risk zone window 620 mayinclude selectable risk type options 622 operable to overlay on the map610 various data such as representing “accidents”, “car jackings”,“cargo thefts” (which is the option selected for example purposes inFIG. 6), and/or “vehicle thefts”. By activating one or more of theselectable risk type options 622, a user may cause the map 610 todisplay representations 624 a-c of the selected risk zone types (e.g.,“cargo theft” risk zones may be displayed in the example of FIG. 6). Asindicated by the drop-down arrow adjacent to the “accidents” selectablerisk type option 622, in some embodiments sub-windows and/or drop-downmenus may be provided such as to select specific types of “accidents”(e.g., car vs. animal, fatal accidents, non-fatal accidents, accidentsof certain loss or severity ranges) and/or narrow the type of accidentrisk zone(s) desired for display on the map 610. Thus, in addition topure number (or quantity) of accidents in a given area, the accidents(and thus the map information) may be further classified in terms ofaccident “Severity” (e.g., amount of damage to vehicle/property (minor,moderate, significant, totaled), or level of bodily injury (minor,serious, death)), and/or accident “Type” (e.g., car-car; multi-car;car-truck; car-guardrail; car-pole; car-tree; car-animal/person; etc.).

According to some embodiments, the risk zone window 620 may compriseselectable risk zone parameter options 626 such as “day”, “night” (whichis the option selected for example purposes in FIG. 6), and/or “other”,as shown in FIG. 6. In some embodiments, the risk zone parameter options626 may include a weather drop-down (and/or other) menu item that may,for example, allow the user to filter the map data based on variousweather types/events (e.g., “any weather”, “snow”, “rain”, etc. “ . . .”). By activating one or more of the selectable risk zone parameteroptions 626, for example, a user may cause the map 610 to display therepresentations 624 a-c of the selected risk zone types (e.g., asindicated by any or all activated selectable risk type options 622) asthey pertain to various timeframes and/or other selected parameters(e.g., time of day, historical time window, weather conditions, etc.).As shown in FIG. 6, for example, the “cargo thefts” by “night” overlayfor “any weather” conditions may be displayed and/or a filter for themap 610 may cause the representations 624 a-c of risk zones to bedisplayed.

In some embodiments, the weather risk zone parameter option 626 in therisk zone window 620 may comprise a “Road Conditions” option or overlayor filter for the map 610. When this option is selected, the drop downmenu may allow the user to select the type of road condition such asdry, wet, ice, snow, fog, and the like (e.g., which may be related to orindependent of the weather conditions). When the user selects a roadcondition risk zone parameter option 626, the risk zone representations624 a-c are filtered based on the selection. For example, if dry roadconditions are selected, only accidents (e.g., in the case that the“accidents” risk type option 622 is selected) that occurred when theroad conditions were dry remain in the risk zones display and the colorsor highlighting changes accordingly. Similarly, if icy road conditionsare selected, only accidents that occurred when the road conditions wereicy remain in the risk zones display and the colors or highlightingchanges accordingly.

The risk zone data of a roadway (e.g., a transportation conduit object),for example, may be represented on the map 610 in a graphical manner(e.g., the first and/or second representations 624 a-b) to represent atotal aggregate, average, and/or weighted risk zone index or metric. Therisk zone window 620 may, for example, comprise a key 628 which in theexample interface 600 of FIG. 6 is descriptive of “high”, “moderate”,and “low” risk zones. As depicted, for example, a first section 624 a ofthe roadway Interstate 91 (I-91) south of Hartford has experienced(and/or is otherwise associated with) “high” risk zone data for cargothefts at night, while a second section 624 b of Interstate 91 (I-91)south of Meriden has experienced (and/or is otherwise associated with)“low” risk zone data for cargo thefts at night.

According to some embodiments, depending on the type(s) of risk zone(s)represented by the map 610, the representations 624 a-c of risk zonesmay comprise objects and/or methods other than roadway (or travel way)markup. For example, the risk zones in an area or region may berepresented by a highlighted region 624 c, shown as a “moderate” riskzone area in and around Manchester on the map 610. In that example,there may be moderate risk zone data in the region 624 c for theparameters selected. In some embodiments, if the user touches the region624 c or hovers over the region 624 c with a mouse, more detailedinformation regarding the reason(s) for the risk zone level may bedisplayed (e.g., ten (10) cargo thefts in past five (5) days). In someembodiments, the routing method for the recommended route 612 may bebased on one or more of these (and/or other) representations of riskzones 624 a-c (and/or the data upon which those representations 624 a-care based).

According to some embodiments, for example, the interface 600 maycomprise a routing method window 630, which may be used in addition toor, as an alternative to, the risk zone window 620 to modify thedisplay. The routing method window 630 may comprise selectable options632 which may, as depicted, be similar to the selectable risk typeoptions 622 presented in the risk zone window 620. The selectableoptions 632 may, in some embodiments, allow a user to select and/or setthe desired risk type, time-frame, parameters, and/or period for therouting method. As shown in the example of FIG. 6, the risk typeselectable options 632 are set to “all”, the “day” option for the timeof day is selected to set the timeframe to correspond to daytime risklevels, and the “period” option is selected (to define the data set tobe utilized to conduct routing calculations) with the period type set to“days” and the period set to thirty (30) days. The routing method forthe recommended route 612 may accordingly take into account all and/oroverall risk, during the daytime, over the last thirty (30) days,between and/or around A and B, such as may be determined based onhistoric data recorded for such areas. According to some embodiments,assistance and/or guidance regarding the selectable options 632 may beprovided. In the case that planning a route based on a selectedtime-window may be misleading and/or undesirable (e.g., from amathematical and/or statistical perspective), for example, a systemand/or device that provides the interface 600 may suggest to the userthat a different time window (and/or other options) be selected and/orutilized for route guidance.

In some embodiments, the routing method window 630 may comprise aplurality of risk zone-based routing options 634. The routing optionsmay provide the “Least Risky” route, which would provide the routehaving the lowest level of risk. Risk zone data may be combined and/oranalyzed together with typical roadway and/or travel data, for example,to allow the program underlying the interface 600 to determine not onlythe “shortest” route from A to B, but the “Least Risky & Shortest”route, for example. As shown, the user may select the routing method tobe a “Less Risky” route, a “Less Risky & Fastest” route, a “Less Risky &Shortest” route, an overall “Least Risky” route, a “Least Risky &Fastest” route, and/or a “Least Risky & Shortest” route. The differentrisk zone-based routing options 634 are presented for exemplary purposesonly. Fewer, more, and/or different risk zone-based routing options 634may be presented to the user and/or may be utilized to determine therecommended route 612 in accordance with some embodiments.

As depicted in the example of FIG. 6, the “Least Risky” route(s) optionis selected. Thus, the recommended route 612 depicted on the map 610 ofthe interface 600 represents the determined least risky route and/orroutes from point A to point B, based on daytime overall risk levels asexperienced over the last thirty (30) days (or a different thirty (30)day period). In some embodiments, such as to potentially obtain moreaccurate predictive results such as by taking into account daily,weekly, seasonal, and/or annual variations in recorded risk zone data,the date of the future routing prediction may also (or alternatively) bespecified (although it is not in the example of FIG. 6).

In some embodiments, such as in the case that one of the “Less Risky”routing methods is chosen, the routing method window 630 may include arisk zone selection/slider bar 636 and/or a risk zone slider/pointer638. The risk zone selection bar 636 may, for example, comprise agraphical icon of a bar representing a range of risk zone values (e.g.,metric and/or index values), from “Least Risky” to “Most Risky”. Therisk zone slider 638 may, in some embodiments, represent the currentand/or set value of risk associated with the desired routing method. Asshown, for example, the risk zone slider 638 is set near the least-riskyside of the risk zone bar 636. In some embodiments, the risk levelrepresented by the position of the risk zone slider 638 on the risk zonebar 636 may be represented by an indication of the actual value of thecurrent and/or set or desired risk level (e.g., twenty-five (25) asshown on the example risk zone bar 636, having an example range of zero(0) to one hundred (100)).

The risk zone bar 636 and the risk zone slider 638 may be utilized, forexample, in the case that a “less risky” routing method is desired, suchthat the sliding and/or setting of the risk zone slider 638 may definethe specific magnitude that corresponds to “less”, e.g., twenty-five(25) in the example of FIG. 6. In that example, when the risk zoneslider 638 is moved to a new position, one or more routes having acorresponding risk level may be highlighted in a different color, forexample, on the map 610. In other embodiments, the user may define theirown route(s) and utilize the risk zone bar 636 and/or risk zone slider638 to determine a risk zone rating of the defined route. As the userslides the slider 638, different routes from A to B may be highlightedindicating which routes meet the slider-selected risk zone rating. Thismay be advantageous, for example, in the case that the user's insurancecompany offers reductions in insurance premiums for clients that conductthemselves (and/or their businesses) within certain risk zones and/orrisk thresholds. To increase awareness of risk zone locations, theinterface 600 may further provide real time warnings or other noticeswhen the user is approaching, entering, and/or leaving risk zones. Insome embodiments, such warnings may correspond to the settings the userhas selected in the risk zone window 620 and/or the routing methodwindow 630. In some embodiments, the interface 600 may comprise anoverlay/filter options button 640 that may allow the user to selectand/or set or define options for the interface 600 in more detail.Activation and/or selection of the overlay/filter options button 640may, for example, cause a different interface screen (such as theinterface 800 of FIG. 8) to be displayed (not shown in FIG. 6), viawhich user preferences may be set.

According to some embodiments, an insurance company may offer tiereddiscounts and/or premium rate levels for clients who commit to (and/orwho actually do) maintain certain risk zone parameters withinpredetermined thresholds. In the case of travel, for example, tripsplanned and/or taken (e.g., monitored via GPS in an in-car navigationaldevice and/or via the client's mobile communications device) may betallied with respect to various risk zone ratings. Overall ratings incertain time periods (e.g., exposure to risk per month) and/or aweighted risk zone aggregate (e.g., frequency of experienced risklevels) may, in some embodiments, be determined for individual clients,individual drivers, and/or individual vehicles (or any combinationsthereof). In the case that the tracked metrics fall within predeterminedthresholds (e.g., an average experienced risk level of less thanseventy-five (75) in any given month) the client may qualify for areduced premium, discount, and/or other reward (e.g., frequent flyermiles, reward points, and/or prizes; e.g., ten percent (10%) off monthlypremium). In some embodiments, the user may obtain a certain number ofpoints for certain risk zone levels and gets a benefit if the user staysbelow (or above) a threshold number of points (over a set period oftime). In some embodiments, the user may obtain benefits if user staysbelow (or above) a threshold percentage of trips having a certain riskzone level (over a set period of time).

According to some embodiments, desired discount and/or insurance premiumlevels may be taken into account in the routing method for therecommended route 612. Turning to FIG. 7, for example, an exampleinterface 700 according to some embodiments is shown. In someembodiments, the interface 700 may be generated and/or presented (e.g.,output) by a device such as the insurance device 120 a, the shoppingdevice 120 b, the navigation device 120 c, the advertising device 120 d,the prioritization device 120 e, and/or the other risk zone data device120 f of the system 100 of FIG. 1 and/or the risk zone portal device380, the subscriber device 392 and/or client device 394 of the system300 of FIG. 3 herein. The interface 700 may, for example, comprise a map710 such as the map 610 of the interface 600 of FIG. 6 herein. Theinterface 700 may, for example, display a plurality of recommendedroutes 712 a-c and/or may provide representations 724 a-c of variousrisk zones. According to some embodiments, the interface 700 maycomprise a routing method window 730 that may comprise a plurality ofselectable risk type options 732 and/or a plurality of routing methodoptions 734.

The routing method options 734 may, in accordance with some embodiments,include one or more options tied to insurance premium and/or discountlevels such as the depicted “Less Costly Route”, “Less Costly &Fastest”, “Less Costly & Shortest”, “Least Costly Route(s)”, “LeastCostly & Fastest”, and/or “Least Costly & Shortest” (and/or othernon-depicted options such as “Maintain 10% Discount” or “BiggestDiscount” or “Most Reward Points”, etc.). In such a manner, the routingmethod may facilitate the maintenance of the user's activities withinthe desired threshold ranges and/or parameters. In some embodiments, arisk zone knob 736-1 may allow a user to set a scale of insurancepremiums and/or discounts, such as from “Lowest Premium” or “BiggestDiscount” to “Highest Premium” or “Lowest Discount”, such as by turningthe knob 736-1 in a positive “+” or negative “−” direction, as depicted.In some embodiments, the user may utilize a parameter type box 736-2such as by selecting from a drop-down list of available parameteroptions such as the dollar amount “$” as depicted, a percentage, tier,level, etc. In some embodiments, a value of a desired parameter may bedisplayed and/or directly set or defined via a parameter entry box 738.As depicted in FIG. 7, for example, a user has set the interface 700(and/or the map 710) to display routes that would result in a thirtydollar ($30) insurance premium (e.g., per time period such as day,month, etc.), deductible, discount amount, etc. (e.g., by setting thevalue directly via the parameter entry box 738, by specifying theparameter type via the parameter type box 736-2 and/or by moving and/oradjusting the risk zone knob 736-1). In such a manner, for example, therouting method may be set to be based on the effect that traveling anygiven route may have on the user's insurance premiums. In someembodiments, the user may enter a desired discount (name your “RiskZone” discount) or a desired premium (name your “Risk Zone” premium)into the parameter entry box 738 and/or via a set-up screen (not shown)which may set the default risk zone levels for suggested routes toobtain that discount or premium. The user may then move the risk zoneknob 736-1 from that default and/or set point to select other possibleroutes, as desired. In some embodiments, the risk zone knob 736-1 maycomprise an actual physical object such as a knob, switch, toggle,scroll button, button, etc., of an apparatus (such as a user'snavigational device and/or PC input device) and/or may comprise avirtual object such as a virtual and/or simulated knob or device on ascreen and/or touch-screen.

According to some embodiments, adjustments made utilizing the risk zoneknob 736-1 (and/or data entered via the parameter entry box 738) mayaffect the recommended route(s) 712 a-c and/or the displayed risk zonerepresentations 724 a-c. Setting the desired risk zone-related costlevel to a first value, for example, may cause a first recommended route712 a to be displayed and/or plotted, while changing or setting thedesired cost level to a second or third value may cause a secondrecommended route 712 b or a third recommended route 712 c to bedisplayed or otherwise output, respectively. In some embodiments, suchas in the case of the second risk zone representation 724 b, which inthe example of FIG. 7 depicts an area of risk, altering the desired cost(and/or reward, deductible, discount, etc.) level may alter the size,shape, and/or composition of the second representation 724 b. At a firstdesired cost level, for example, a first area of the secondrepresentation 724 b-1 may be identified and/or depicted as an areaassociated with a particular level and/or type of risk or cost. As thedesired cost is increased (or decreased), the second representation 724b may be changed to a second area 724 b-2 and then a third area 724 b-3,which in the example of FIG. 7 are shown as increasingly larger areas.The example of FIG. 7 may represent, for example, a case where a userdesires to see an area (e.g., the areas 724 b-1, 724 b-2, 724 b-3) wherethe user may be permitted to operate their fleet of vehicles (and/orconduct business, etc.), based on different discount levels or tiers. Afirst tier of discount may be available (e.g., five percent (5%)) if theuser limits operations to (or avoids) the first area 724 b-1, forexample, and/or a second tier of discount may be available (e.g., tenpercent (10%)) if the user limits operations to (or avoids) the secondarea 724 b-2, and/or a third tier of discount may be available (e.g.,twenty percent (20%)) if the user limits operations to (or avoids) thethird area 724 b-3—e.g., in the example, progressively more difficultand/or restrictive requirements for achieving the increasinglybeneficial discount levels.

According to some embodiments, although not explicitly shown in FIG. 7,the interface 700 may facilitate delivery and/or route planning bysuggesting, recommending, and/or displaying various trip options such aswaypoints (e.g., low-risk hubs), rest stops (e.g., gas stations, truckstops, charging stations, restaurants, bathrooms), etc. (e.g., any orall of which may be based on risk zone data). In some embodiments, theareas 724 b-1, 724 b-2, 724 b-3 may be colored, shaded, and/or otherwisedisplayed or presented to convey risk level information (e.g., relative,quantitative, and/or qualitative). The areas 724 b-1, 724 b-2, 724 b-3may, for example, be provided in accordance with the key 628 of FIG. 6herein, such that they are descriptive of “high”, “moderate”, and “low”risk zones, respectively.

According to some embodiments, the interface 700 may be utilized tofacilitate decision-making regarding various types of activities and/orwith respect to various types of insurance. A business owner may utilizethe interface 700 to determine the best, least risky, and/or cheapest orotherwise most beneficial manner in which to conduct various businessoperations such as, but not limited to, new client acquisitions (e.g.,based on risk/cost of client location and/or routes available to getthere), product deliveries (e.g., based on risk/cost of client and/orstore locations and/or available routes), service calls (e.g., based onrisk/cost of client and/or store locations and/or available routes),places to purchase supplies, etc. In such a manner, for example, thebusiness owner may be able to visualize (e.g., via the interface 700)areas where insurance may cost less (e.g., by being presented withinsurance values, ranges, etc.).

In some embodiments, the interface 700 may comprise an overlay/filteroptions button 740 that may allow the user to select and/or set ordefine options for the interface 700 in more detail. Activation and/orselection of the overlay/filter options button 740 may, for example,cause a different interface screen (such as the interface 800 of FIG. 8)to be displayed (not shown in FIG. 7), via which user preferences may beset.

Turning to FIG. 8, an example interface 800 according to someembodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the interface 800 may begenerated and/or presented (e.g., output) by a device such as theinsurance device 120 a, the shopping device 120 b, the navigation device120 c, the advertising device 120 d, the prioritization device 120 e,and/or the other risk zone data device 120 f of the system 100 of FIG. 1and/or the risk zone portal device 380, the subscriber device 392 and/orclient device 394 of the system 300 of FIG. 3 herein. The interface 800may, for example, comprise a window 810 that may provide various optionsthat may affect how risk information is output and/or provided.

The interface 800 (and/or window 810) may comprise, according to someembodiments, a fleet vehicle selection area 842-1 (e.g., in the case ofbusiness and/or fleet insurance) and/or an activity type selection area842-2 that may allow a user, for example, to select and/or define one ormore fleet vehicles for which to set options and/or to select and/ordefine a type of activity for which the user desires to obtain risk zoneand/or insurance pricing information. Risk data and/or insurance pricingmay vary, for example, based on which fleet vehicle is selected and/orbased on whether the activity is retail delivery, short-haul trucking,and/or livery (e.g., for business policies, as depicted in FIG. 8), etc.

In some embodiments, the interface 800 (and/or window 810) may compriseone or more operator data areas 844 that allow for the entry, selection,and/or defining of operator data. The operator data areas 844 maycomprise, for example, an operator characteristics selection area 844-1and/or an operator attributes selection area 844-2. The operatorcharacteristics selection area 844-1 may, in some embodiments, allow theuser to select and/or set data defining characteristics of an operator(e.g., an operator of an insured vehicle in the example of automobileinsurance, e.g., a fleet driver) such as the operator's age (or agerange), gender, experience level, training, licensing level (e.g.,whether the operator has a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), whichoption is selected in the example of FIG. 8), etc. The operatorattributes selection area 844-2 may, in some embodiments, allow the userto select and/or set data defining attributes of the operator such aswhether the operator is fatigued/tired, how long the operator has beendriving, whether the operator is distracted, utilizing a cell phone,etc. According to some embodiments, the operator attributes may bedetermined via telematics data as described herein (e.g., in compilingdata to output to the user and/or in determining of the user adheres tovarious policy requirements—e.g., set by the user). Risk data and/orinsurance pricing may vary, for example, based on the variouscharacteristics and/or attributes of the operator (and/or insured, e.g.,in the case of non-automotive insurance policies). In some embodiments,route guidance may be altered based on the selected characteristics.

In some embodiments, the interface 800 (and/or window 810) may compriseone or more vehicle data areas 846 that allow for the entry, selection,and/or defining of vehicle data. The vehicle data areas 846 maycomprise, for example, a vehicle characteristics selection area 846-1and/or a vehicle attributes selection area 846-2. The vehiclecharacteristics selection area 846-1 may, in some embodiments, allow theuser to select and/or set data defining characteristics of a vehicle(e.g., a vehicle associated with an insurance policy) such as the make,model, and/or year of the vehicle, whether the vehicle has varioussafety features such as anti-lock brakes, traction control, side-curtainairbags, a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), run-flat tires,refrigeration, Closed-Circuit TV (CCTV) monitored cargo area, reversewarning beeper, retarder, side-view mirror signals, high-visibility turnsignals, accident avoidance, etc. The vehicle attributes selection area846-2 may, in some embodiments, allow the user to select and/or set datadefining attributes of the vehicle such as whether the vehicle is beingutilized to tow (e.g., a trailer, boat, etc.), and/or whether (and/orwhat type, weight, etc.) the vehicle is carrying any sort of internalcargo, etc. In some embodiments, such as for business insuranceapplications, characteristics of cargo may be selected. As shown, forexample, whether cargo is classified as HAZMAT, what class of HAZMAT,and/or what type of cargo (e.g., whether the cargo is a “targetcommodity” that is associated with higher risk), such as alcohol,tobacco, firearms, electronics (e.g., consumer electronics), etc.According to some embodiments, the vehicle attributes may be determinedvia telematics data as described herein (e.g., in compiling data tooutput to the user and/or in determining of the user adheres to variouspolicy requirements—e.g., set by the user). Risk data, routing, and/orinsurance pricing may vary, for example, based on the variouscharacteristics and/or attributes of the vehicle (and/or other desiredobject).

In some embodiments, a report (not shown in FIG. 8) may be provided to aclient based on the utilization of the interface 800 (and/or interfaces600, 700 of FIG. 6 and/or FIG. 7 herein) and/or otherwise based on theclient's utilization of the risk zone data presented therein. On-demandand/or periodic (e.g., monthly) reports detailing how a client'sutilization (or non-utilization) of risk zone information has affectedtheir insurance premium, deductible, discounts, surcharges, rewards,and/or other insurance data may, for example, be provided. Such reportsmay show, in some embodiments, what tier or level of risk or discount aclient has achieved, provide suggestions regarding how the client mayimprove their risk and/or discount level, and/or show what actualdiscounts or surcharges have been (or will be, e.g., if the client doesnot improve a risk score) applied (e.g., to the client's insuranceand/or other account).

Referring now to FIG. 9, an example interface 900 according to someembodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the interface 900 may begenerated and/or presented (e.g., output) by a device such as theinsurance device 120 a, the shopping device 120 b, the navigation device120 c, the advertising device 120 d, the prioritization device 120 e,and/or the other risk zone data device 120 f of the system 100 of FIG. 1and/or the risk zone portal device 380, the subscriber device 392,and/or the client device 394 of the system 300 of FIG. 3 herein. Theinterface 900 may, for example, comprise a map 910 that may providevarious options and/or that may affect how risk information is outputand/or provided.

The interface 900 (and/or map 910) may comprise, according to someembodiments, a screen via which navigational routing suggestions areprovided (e.g., a screen of a navigational device and/or fleetmanagement software device, neither of which is explicitly shown in FIG.9). A business insurance client may, for example, utilize the interface900 to plan how to conduct various business operations. In someembodiments, such as described with respect to FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and/orFIG. 8 herein, the planning may comprise determining which of aplurality of available and/or recommended routes 912 a-d may be leastrisky and/or costly (e.g., from an insurance perspective).

According to some embodiments, the business client may desire to travelfrom (and/or ship cargo from) Baltimore, Md. to Dover, Del. As shown inthe example interface 900 of FIG. 9, there may be a plurality ofpotential and/or recommended routes 912 a-d between Baltimore and Dover.In some embodiments, as described in reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7herein, one or more of the routes 912 a-d may be recommended and/orsuggested (explicitly and/or implicitly) based on relative risk and/orinsurance levels such as risk points and/or insurance premium or paymenttiers. According to some embodiments, the routes 912 a-d may compriserecommendations and/or suggestion of transportation type. The insuranceclient may send the desired cargo (e.g., product and/or employee—and/orthe client, such as in the case of personal insurance) via a first route912 a, for example, which may comprise the illustrated road route. Thefirst route 912 a may, for example, be associated with a first type oftransportation such as wheeled transportation—e.g., car, truck, bus. Insome embodiments, other transportation options may be available. Theclient may, for example, send the cargo via a second route 912 b, whichmay comprise a less-direct rail route (e.g., with a stop, changeover,and/or waypoint in Wilmington, Del.). Or the client may send the cargovia a third route 912 c, which may comprise a water/sea route (e.g.,connecting at points “C”, respectively) that utilizes a ferry and/orcargo ship, for example. In some embodiments, the client may send thecargo via a fourth route 912 d. The fourth route 912 d may comprise, forexample, an air trip or flight 912 d-1 between BWI and SBY airports,followed by a ground transportation (e.g., truck, car, rail) link 912d-2 between Salisbury, Md. and the destination at Dover, Del.

In each case, different risk and/or insurance costs and/orconsiderations may be involved. The most direct route, the first route912 a, may for example, comprise the most dangerous (e.g., risky) of theavailable routes 912 a-d. The riskiness may be due to the route orportions thereof, and/or may be due to the associated mode(s) oftransportation. Road travel may, for example, be the most risky way totransport cargo between Baltimore and Dover. In some embodiments,although the third route 912 c may be the longest (in terms of distanceand/or time) and/or the fourth route 912 d may be the most expensive(e.g., due to the flight 912 d-1), either route may be the least riskyand/or result in the lowest insurance premium, deductible, surcharge,etc. According to some embodiments, the respective qualitative and/orquantitative riskiness and/or costliness of the routes 912 a-d may beprovided to the client so that the client may choose an appropriatetravel type and/or route 912 a-d. In some embodiments, one or morespecific routes 9121-d may be chosen for and/or suggested to the client(e.g., automatically). In some cases, for example, such as in the casethat a client's insurance policy comprises certain limitations (e.g.,not allowed to cross major bridges), those limitations may be taken intoaccount by a system or device that provides the interface 900 and onlyconforming routes 912 a-d may be provided (e.g., the third and/or fourthroutes 912 c, 912 d, as neither crosses a major bridge).

Turning to FIG. 10, a block diagram of an apparatus 1000 according tosome embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 maybe similar in configuration and/or functionality to any of the risk zonedata processing device 310, the risk zone data gathering devices 306a-d, the risk zone data aggregator device 308, the risk zone portaldevice 380, the subscriber device 392, and/or the client device 394, allof FIG. 3 herein. The apparatus 1000 may, for example, execute, process,facilitate, and/or otherwise be associated with the processes 200, 500and/or the method 400 of FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and/or FIG. 5 herein. In someembodiments, the apparatus 1000 may comprise a processing device 1012,an input device 1014, an output device 1016, a communication device1018, and/or a memory device 1040. According to some embodiments, any orall of the components 1012, 1014, 1016, 1018, 1040 of the apparatus 1000may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarlynamed and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer or morecomponents 1012, 1014, 1016, 1018, 1040 and/or various configurations ofthe components 1012, 1014, 1016, 1018, 1040 may be included in theapparatus 1000 without deviating from the scope of embodiments describedherein.

According to some embodiments, the processor 1012 may be or include anytype, quantity, and/or configuration of processor that is or becomesknown. The processor 1012 may comprise, for example, an Intel® IXP 2800network processor or an Intel® XEON™ Processor coupled with an Intel®E7501 chipset. In some embodiments, the processor 1012 may comprisemultiple inter-connected processors, microprocessors, and/ormicro-engines. According to some embodiments, the processor 1012 (and/orthe apparatus 1000 and/or other components thereof) may be suppliedpower via a power supply (not shown) such as a battery, an AlternatingCurrent (AC) source, a Direct Current (DC) source, an AC/DC adapter,solar cells, and/or an inertial generator. In the case that theapparatus 1000 comprises a server such as a blade server, necessarypower may be supplied via a standard AC outlet, power strip, surgeprotector, and/or Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) device.

In some embodiments, the input device 1014 and/or the output device 1016are communicatively coupled to the processor 1012 (e.g., via wiredand/or wireless connections and/or pathways) and they may generallycomprise any types or configurations of input and output componentsand/or devices that are or become known, respectively. The input device1014 may comprise, for example, a keyboard that allows an operator ofthe apparatus 1000 to interface with the apparatus 1000 (e.g., by aconsumer, such as to purchase insurance policies priced utilizing riskzone metrics and/or to monitor risk zone data of local destinations,and/or by an underwriter and/or insurance agent, such as to evaluaterisk and/or calculate premiums for an insurance policy). In someembodiments, the input device 1014 may comprise a sensor configured toprovide information such as encoded risk zone information to theapparatus 1000 and/or the processor 1012. The output device 1016 may,according to some embodiments, comprise a display screen and/or otherpracticable output component and/or device. The output device 1016 may,for example, provide insurance and/or investment pricing and/or riskanalysis to a potential client (e.g., via a website) and/or to anunderwriter or sales agent attempting to structure an insurance (and/orinvestment) product (e.g., via a computer workstation). According tosome embodiments, the input device 1014 and/or the output device 1016may comprise and/or be embodied in a single device such as atouch-screen monitor.

In some embodiments, the communication device 1018 may comprise any typeor configuration of communication device that is or becomes known orpracticable. The communication device 1018 may, for example, comprise anetwork interface card (NIC), a telephonic device, a cellular networkdevice, a router, a hub, a modem, and/or a communications port or cable.In some embodiments, the communication device 1018 may be coupled toprovide data to a client device, such as in the case that the apparatus1000 is utilized as a risk zone portal. The communication device 1018may, for example, comprise a cellular telephone network transmissiondevice that sends signals indicative of risk zone metrics to clientand/or subscriber handheld, mobile, and/or telephone devices. Accordingto some embodiments, the communication device 1018 may also oralternatively be coupled to the processor 1012. In some embodiments, thecommunication device 1018 may comprise an IR, RF, Bluetooth™, Near-FieldCommunication (NFC), and/or Wi-Fi® network device coupled to facilitatecommunications between the processor 1012 and another device (such as aclient device and/or a third-party device, not shown in FIG. 10).

The memory device 1040 may comprise any appropriate information storagedevice that is or becomes known or available, including, but not limitedto, units and/or combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., a harddisk drive), optical storage devices, and/or semiconductor memorydevices such as RAM devices, Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, Single DataRate Random Access Memory (SDR-RAM), Double Data Rate Random AccessMemory (DDR-RAM), and/or Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM). Thememory device 1040 may, according to some embodiments, store one or moreof risk zone calculation instructions 1042-1, risk assessmentinstructions 1042-2, premium determination instructions 1042-3, riskzone data 1044-1, telematics data 1044-2, and/or claim/loss data 1044-3.In some embodiments, the risk zone calculation instructions 1042-1, riskassessment instructions 1042-2, and/or premium determinationinstructions 1042-3 may be utilized by the processor 1012 to provideoutput information via the output device 1016 and/or the communicationdevice 1018 (e.g., the interface(s) 600, 700, 800, 900 and/or map(s)610, 710 of FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and/or FIG. 9 herein).

According to some embodiments, the risk zone calculation instructions942-1 may be operable to cause the processor 1012 to process risk zonedata 1044-1 telematics data 1044-2, and/or claim/loss data 1044-3 inaccordance with embodiments as described herein. Risk zone data 1044-1,telematics data 1044-2, and/or claim/loss data 1044-3 received via theinput device 1014 and/or the communication device 1018 may, for example,be analyzed, sorted, filtered, decoded, decompressed, ranked, scored,plotted, and/or otherwise processed by the processor 1012 in accordancewith the risk zone calculation instructions 1042-1. In some embodiments,risk zone data 1044-1, telematics data 1044-2, and/or claim/loss data1044-3 (e.g., any or all of which may be descriptive of how risky anobject and/or area is) may be fed by the processor 1012 through one ormore mathematical and/or statistical formulas and/or models inaccordance with the risk zone calculation instructions 1042-1 to defineone or more risk zone metrics, indices, and/or models that may then beutilized for various purposes as described herein.

According to some embodiments, the risk assessment instructions 1044-2may be operable to cause the processor 1012 to perform a risk assessmentas described herein (e.g., may be operable to cause the processor 1012to process risk zone data 1044-1 telematics data 1044-2, and/orclaim/loss data 1044-3 in accordance with embodiments as describedherein). Risk zone data 1044-1, telematics data 1044-2, and/orclaim/loss data 1044-3 of an object and/or area may be analyzed tocreate loss distributions, for example, that may be utilized to generatea risk score for an object being insured. The risk assessmentinstructions 1042-2 may, in some embodiments, utilize object data (notexplicitly shown in FIG. 10) to determine relationships between objectsfor which insurance is sought and related objects that are not thesubject of an insurance product under evaluation (e.g., the object datamay, in addition to storing information on objects such as vehicles thatare insured, store information relating such vehicles to roads,intersections, and/or other externality objects that may be related tothe vehicles).

In some embodiments, the premium determination instructions 1042-3 maybe executed by the processor 1012 to calculate an insurance premium foran insurance product (e.g., based on the risk zone data 1044-1, thetelematics data 1044-2, and/or the claim/loss data 1044-3) and/or tootherwise be operable to cause the processor 1012 to process risk zonedata 1044-1 telematics data 1044-2, and/or claim/loss data 1044-3 inaccordance with embodiments as described herein. According to someembodiments, the risk assessment instructions 1042-2 and/or the premiumdetermination instructions 1042-3 may utilize the claim/loss data 1044-3to update and/or revise risk and/or premium determinations,respectively. The apparatus 1000 may function as a computer terminaland/or server of an insurance and/or underwriting company, for example,that is utilized to process insurance applications. In some embodiments,the apparatus 1000 may comprise a web server and/or other portal (e.g.,an interactive voice response unit (IVRU)) that provides risk zone data1044-1 to clients.

In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may comprise a cooling device1050. According to some embodiments, the cooling device 1050 may becoupled (physically, thermally, and/or electrically) to the processor1012 and/or to the memory device 1040. The cooling device 1050 may, forexample, comprise a fan, heat sink, heat pipe, radiator, cold plate,and/or other cooling component or device or combinations thereof,configured to remove heat from portions or components of the apparatus1000.

Any or all of the exemplary instructions and data types described hereinand other practicable types of data may be stored in any number, type,and/or configuration of memory devices that is or becomes known. Thememory device 1040 may, for example, comprise one or more data tables orfiles, databases, table spaces, registers, and/or other storagestructures. In some embodiments, multiple databases and/or storagestructures (and/or multiple memory devices 1040) may be utilized tostore information associated with the apparatus 1000. According to someembodiments, the memory device 1040 may be incorporated into and/orotherwise coupled to the apparatus 1000 (e.g., as shown) or may simplybe accessible to the apparatus 1000 (e.g., externally located and/orsituated).

Referring to FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, and FIG. 11D, perspectivediagrams of exemplary data storage devices 1140 a-d according to someembodiments are shown. The data storage devices 1140 a-d may, forexample, be utilized to store instructions and/or data such as the riskzone calculation instructions 1042-1, the risk assessment instructions1042-2, and/or the premium determination instructions 1042-3, each ofwhich is described in reference to FIG. 10 herein. In some embodiments,instructions stored on the data storage devices 1140 a-d may, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the implementation of and/or facilitatethe processes 200, 500 and/or the method 400 of FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and/orFIG. 5 herein (or any portions or combinations thereof). The datastorage devices 1140 a-d may also or alternatively store data such asthe risk zone data 202 a-n, 1044-1, telematics data 1044-2, and/orclaim/loss data 1044-3 as described with reference to FIG. 2 and/or FIG.10 herein.

According to some embodiments, the first data storage device 1140 a maycomprise a CD, CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-Ray™ Disc, and/or other type ofoptically-encoded disk and/or other storage medium that is or becomesknow or practicable. In some embodiments, the second data storage device1140 b may comprise a USB keyfob, dongle, and/or other type of flashmemory data storage device that is or becomes know or practicable. Insome embodiments, the third data storage device 1140 c may comprise RAMof any type, quantity, and/or configuration that is or becomespracticable and/or desirable. In some embodiments, the third datastorage device 1140 c may comprise an off-chip cache such as a Level 2(L2) cache memory device. According to some embodiments, the fourth datastorage device 1140 d may comprise an on-chip memory device such as aLevel 1 (L1) cache memory device.

The data storage devices 1140 a-d may generally store programinstructions, code, and/or modules that, when executed by a processingdevice cause a particular machine to function in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein. The data storage devices 1140 a-ddepicted in FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, and FIG. 11D arerepresentative of a class and/or subset of computer-readable media thatare defined herein as “computer-readable memory” (e.g., non-transitorymemory devices as opposed to transmission devices or media).

Some embodiments described herein are associated with a “user device” ora “network device”. As used herein, the terms “user device” and “networkdevice” may be used interchangeably and may generally refer to anydevice that can communicate via a network. Examples of user or networkdevices include a Personal Computer (PC), a workstation, a server, aprinter, a scanner, a facsimile machine, a copier, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a storage device (e.g., a disk drive), a hub, a router,a switch, and a modem, a video game console, or a wireless phone. Userand network devices may comprise one or more communication or networkcomponents.

As used herein, the term “network component” may refer to a user ornetwork device, or a component, piece, portion, or combination of useror network devices. Examples of network components may include a StaticRandom Access Memory (SRAM) device or module, a network processor, and anetwork communication path, connection, port, or cable.

In addition, some embodiments are associated with a “network” or a“communication network”. As used herein, the terms “network” and“communication network” may be used interchangeably and may refer to anyobject, entity, component, device, and/or any combination thereof thatpermits, facilitates, and/or otherwise contributes to or is associatedwith the transmission of messages, packets, signals, and/or other formsof information between and/or within one or more network devices.Networks may be or include a plurality of interconnected networkdevices. In some embodiments, networks may be hard-wired, wireless,virtual, neural, and/or any other configuration of type that is orbecomes known. Communication networks may include, for example, one ormore networks configured to operate in accordance with the Fast EthernetLAN transmission standard 802.3-2002® published by the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In some embodiments, anetwork may include one or more wired and/or wireless networks operatedin accordance with any communication standard or protocol that is orbecomes known or practicable.

As used herein, the terms “information” and “data” may be usedinterchangeably and may refer to any data, text, voice, video, image,message, bit, packet, pulse, tone, waveform, and/or other type orconfiguration of signal and/or information. Information may compriseinformation packets transmitted, for example, in accordance with theInternet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) standard as defined by “InternetProtocol Version 6 (IPv6) Specification” RFC 1883, published by theInternet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Network Working Group, S.Deering et al. (December 1995). Information may, according to someembodiments, be compressed, encoded, encrypted, and/or otherwisepackaged or manipulated in accordance with any method that is or becomesknown or practicable.

In addition, some embodiments described herein are associated with an“indication”. As used herein, the term “indication” may be used to referto any indicia and/or other information indicative of or associated witha subject, item, entity, and/or other object and/or idea. As usedherein, the phrases “information indicative of” and “indicia” may beused to refer to any information that represents, describes, and/or isotherwise associated with a related entity, subject, or object. Indiciaof information may include, for example, a code, a reference, a link, asignal, an identifier, and/or any combination thereof and/or any otherinformative representation associated with the information. In someembodiments, indicia of information (or indicative of the information)may be or include the information itself and/or any portion or componentof the information. In some embodiments, an indication may include arequest, a solicitation, a broadcast, and/or any other form ofinformation gathering and/or dissemination.

Numerous embodiments are described in this patent application, and arepresented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments arenot, and are not intended to be, limiting in any sense. The presentlydisclosed invention(s) are widely applicable to numerous embodiments, asis readily apparent from the disclosure. One of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that the disclosed invention(s) may be practiced withvarious modifications and alterations, such as structural, logical,software, and electrical modifications. Although particular features ofthe disclosed invention(s) may be described with reference to one ormore particular embodiments and/or drawings, it should be understoodthat such features are not limited to usage in the one or moreparticular embodiments or drawings with reference to which they aredescribed, unless expressly specified otherwise.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit to eachother as necessary or desirable, and may actually refrain fromexchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine incommunication with another machine via the Internet may not transmitdata to the other machine for weeks at a time. In addition, devices thatare in communication with each other may communicate directly orindirectly through one or more intermediaries.

Further, although process steps, algorithms or the like may be describedin a sequential order, such processes may be configured to work indifferent orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps thatmay be explicitly described does not necessarily indicate a requirementthat the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processesdescribed herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, somesteps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or impliedas occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is describedafter the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to theinvention, and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.

“Determining” something can be performed in a variety of manners andtherefore the term “determining” (and like terms) includes calculating,computing, deriving, looking up (e.g., in a table, database or datastructure), ascertaining and the like.

It will be readily apparent that the various methods and algorithmsdescribed herein may be implemented by, e.g., appropriately programmedgeneral purpose computers and computing devices. Typically a processor(e.g., one or more microprocessors) will receive instructions from amemory or like device, and execute those instructions, therebyperforming one or more processes defined by those instructions. Further,programs that implement such methods and algorithms may be stored andtransmitted using a variety of media (e.g., computer readable media) ina number of manners. In some embodiments, hard-wired circuitry or customhardware may be used in place of, or in combination with, softwareinstructions for implementation of the processes of various embodiments.Thus, embodiments are not limited to any specific combination ofhardware and software

A “processor” generally means any one or more microprocessors, CPUdevices, computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,or like devices, as further described herein.

The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any medium thatparticipates in providing data (e.g., instructions or other information)that may be read by a computer, a processor or a like device. Such amedium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatilemedia, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistentmemory. Volatile media include DRAM, which typically constitutes themain memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire andfiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled tothe processor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves,light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generatedduring RF and IR data communications. Common forms of computer-readablemedia include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any otheroptical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium withpatterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any othermemory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from whicha computer can read.

The term “computer-readable memory” may generally refer to a subsetand/or class of computer-readable medium that does not includetransmission media such as waveforms, carrier waves, electromagneticemissions, etc. Computer-readable memory may typically include physicalmedia upon which data (e.g., instructions or other information) arestored, such as optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory,DRAM, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, anyother magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punchcards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, aRAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, computer hard drives, backup tapes, Universal Serial Bus(USB) memory devices, and the like.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carryingdata, including sequences of instructions, to a processor. For example,sequences of instruction (i) may be delivered from RAM to a processor,(ii) may be carried over a wireless transmission medium, and/or (iii)may be formatted according to numerous formats, standards or protocols,such as Bluetooth™, TDMA, CDMA, 3G.

Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to thosedescribed may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structuresbesides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations ordescriptions of any sample databases presented herein are illustrativearrangements for stored representations of information. Any number ofother arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by, e.g.,tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustratedentries of the databases represent exemplary information only; one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the number and content ofthe entries can be different from those described herein. Further,despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formats(including relational databases, object-based models and/or distributeddatabases) could be used to store and manipulate the data typesdescribed herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a databasecan be used to implement various processes, such as the describedherein. In addition, the databases may, in a known manner, be storedlocally or remotely from a device that accesses data in such a database.

The present invention can be configured to work in a network environmentincluding a computer that is in communication, via a communicationsnetwork, with one or more devices. The computer may communicate with thedevices directly or indirectly, via a wired or wireless medium such asthe Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, or via any appropriatecommunications means or combination of communications means. Each of thedevices may comprise computers, such as those based on the Intel®Pentium® or Centrino™ processor, that are adapted to communicate withthe computer. Any number and type of machines may be in communicationwith the computer.

The present disclosure provides, to one of ordinary skill in the art, anenabling description of several embodiments and/or inventions. Some ofthese embodiments and/or inventions may not be claimed in the presentapplication, but may nevertheless be claimed in one or more continuingapplications that claim the benefit of priority of the presentapplication. Applicant intends to file additional applications to pursuepatents for subject matter that has been disclosed and enabled but notclaimed in the present application.

1. A method, comprising: determining, by a specially-programmedprocessing device, data descriptive of a level of risk for at least oneof a particular object and an area; processing, by thespecially-programmed processing device, the risk data to determine thelevel of risk associated with a business insurance product; providing,by the specially-programmed processing device, a graphical interfacerepresenting the level of risk of the at least one of the particularobject and the area; receiving, by the specially-programmed processingdevice and in response to the providing, an indication from a client;and determining, by the specially-programmed processing device, businessinsurance data based on the indication from the client.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the determining of the data descriptive of the risklevel comprises: receiving, from a sensor associated with the client,the data.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular objectcomprises an object for which a business insurance policy based on thebusiness insurance data is not written.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the processing comprises determining a qualitativerepresentation of the risk level.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theindication from the client comprises an indication that the client hasaccessed the interface.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicationfrom the client comprises an indication that the client has compliedwith a risk level requirement of a business insurance policy associatedwith the insurance information.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein theindication comprises telematics data associated with the client.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the indication from the client comprises aclient selection made via the graphical interface.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the business insurance data comprises one or more of:(i) an insurance premium amount; (ii) an insurance deductible amount;(iii) an insurance discount amount; (iv) an insurance surcharge amount;and (v) a reward points amount.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: selling the business insurance product to the client, theinsurance product being based at least in part on the business insurancedata.
 11. An apparatus, comprising: an electronic processing device; anda memory device in communication with the electronic processing device,the memory device storing specially-programmed instructions that whenexecuted by the electronic processing device result in: determining datadescriptive of a level of risk for at least one of a particular objectand an area; processing the risk data to determine the level of riskassociated with a business insurance product; providing a graphicalinterface representing the level of risk of the at least one of theparticular object and the area; receiving, in response to the providing,an indication from a client; and determining business insurance databased on the indication from the client.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11,wherein the determining of the data descriptive of the risk levelcomprises: receiving, from a sensor associated with the client, thedata.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the particular objectcomprises an object for which a personal insurance policy based on thebusiness insurance data is not written.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11,wherein the processing comprises determining a qualitativerepresentation of the risk level.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, whereinthe indication from the client comprises an indication that the clienthas accessed the interface.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theindication from the client comprises an indication that the client hascomplied with a risk level requirement of a business insurance policyassociated with the business insurance information.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the indication comprises telematics data associatedwith the client.
 18. A non-transitory article of manufacture storinginstructions that when executed by a processing device result in:determining data descriptive of a level of risk for at least one of aparticular object and an area; processing the risk data to determine thelevel of risk associated with a business insurance product; providing agraphical interface representing the level of risk of the at least oneof the particular object and the area; receiving, in response to theproviding, an indication from a client; and determining businessinsurance data based on the indication from the client.
 19. The articleof manufacture of claim 18, wherein the particular object comprises anobject for which a personal insurance policy based on the personalinsurance data is not written.
 20. The article of manufacture of claim18, wherein the indication from the client comprises an indication thatthe client has complied with a risk level requirement of a businessinsurance policy associated with the business insurance information. 21.The method of claim 20, wherein the indication comprises telematics dataassociated with the client.